Margate Cookbook Author Still Stirring

People/food

Ethel Rich not only is known as an outstanding gourmet cook to her friends and neighbors, but also as the author of four cookbooks of original recipes, a sculptor and a painter.

Ethel and her husband, Stanley Rich, have lived quietly for the past 11 years in Oriole Gardens in Margate where her paintings and sculptures transform the rooms of their second-story condominium into a mini-museum.

Lining the walls of each room are portraits of her three children, husband Stanley and self-portraits painted at different times in her life. Monet-like garden scenes encircle the sliding glass doors leading to the porch that also serves as her studio.

``Most people have a curtain, but I prefer the pictures,`` Rich said.

A large bust of husband Stanley stands guard in the hallway by the front door. ``He uses it to put his hat on when he`s home,`` said Rich of the amazingly life-like reproduction of her husband that took her eight months to complete.

Although her kitchen now is much smaller then the one she used up north, Rich still manages to turn out gourmet dishes that are not only delicious but a feast for the eyes, too.

``In cooking I find an outlet for my artistic tendencies, and I also have a lot of ideas on how things should best be served,`` Rich said.

``She has always been very fussy about the appearance of her food,`` said Martha Feingold of Margate, a friend of Rich`s for more than 40 years. ``She`s an excellent cook and baker and a lot of people still use the cookbook she wrote so many years ago.``

Feingold was a member of the temple where Rich, as part of her fund-raising activities, edited and published a cookbook entitled Have Book Will Cook full of recipes, catering ideas and nutritional information. Rich still has a much- used copy of the book, which she keeps in a plastic bag now because many of the pages are loose.

``I wouldn`t give up this book for anything,`` Rich said seriously. ``It has all the old great recipes. My mother was a great cook, I wish I had learned from her. That`s why I`m putting down all my recipes for my children. I don`t want them to be lost.``

When her first book proved to be so popular, Rich published another one entitled Stop, Look and Cook, which proved to be as big a success as the first.

``She put my synagogue on the map,`` recalled Rabbi David W. Gordon, formerly of the Fresh Meadows Jewish Center in New York but now retired and living in Sunrise. ``Every synagogue had a specialty, and we were known for Ethel`s cooking.``

Becoming the resident cooking expert in her temple soon gave Rich another challenge.

``People were always asking me to make things that weren`t fattening,`` Rich recalled. ``So I started making my recipes dietetic. I`d take out the fat and sugars from a recipe and find substitutes for them.``

After moving to Florida, Rich`s reputation for cooking marvelous diet meals prompted a group from Oriole Gardens to ask her to give cooking lessons, which she did for a while. She stopped the lessons when she found they were too time-consuming.

She hasn`t stopped experimenting, though. She takes her old family recipes and finds ways to update them and make them less caloric.

``It`s truly amazing because when we first got married, she couldn`t even boil water,`` said Stanley. The couple celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary Dec. 25th.

``She decided she would learn to cook and she did, becoming a fantastic gourmet chef, even going as far as making up her own recipes.``

Rich`s artistic creativity, so evident in the furnishings throughout the house, are also evident in her innovative cooking style. She adds unusual flavorings and combinations of taste to her dishes, seeming to have a sixth sense about the best complements.

Because of her catering abilities, Rich at one time was asked to go into professional catering business, but husband Stanley was against it.

``He used to ask me why -- so I could buy another dress or a piece of jewelry?,`` Ethel said.

So instead Rich turned her considerable talents to charities, working to raise funds for several Jewish organizations. She proudly displays a plaque awarded to her by the Fresh Meadows Jewish Center.

``I was the only woman who was ever given a testimonial dinner there,`` said Rich proudly.

Although Rich has a drawer full of such plaques and certificates of thanks, she`s never been one to call attention to herself or ask for thanks.

``She`s a modest person and she never seeks publicity for the good works she`s done,`` said Gordon. ``I`m glad somebody finally noticed her.``

This is a favorite recipe of Ethel`s grandchildren because they can make it themselves.

ETHEL`S FAVORITE PANCAKE

1cup dry cereal (Total or Special K, crushed between two plates)

2eggs

sprinkle cinnamon

2tablespoons water

1teaspoon vanilla

Butter a medium skillet and put on medium flame. In a small bowl, combine crushed cereal, water, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour mixture into skillet and cover. When lightly brown, flip and cook other side.